When the start of last night’s game was delayed, my wife and I began to watch a movie on TV. If no Braves, might as well Netflix and chill. An hour or two later, I checked the MLB app and saw that the Mets were leading 6-0 in the third. At that point, I didn’t give the Braves another thought until I checked the app when I awoke this morning.
What are the odds that our guys would have come back to score nine in the 4th, two more in the 6th, and that the bullpen would hold the Mets scoreless for seven innings? That is a rhetorical question, JonathanF; don’t actually research it (unless you want to).
Although I gave the Braves no thought as I went to bed, I do have a few random thoughts this morning.
–Surely that is the last we will see of Carlos Carrasco in a Braves uni (sorry for calling you Shirley). I shouldn’t be so hard on him–he almost gave us an Elder Quality Start (EQS is three or more innings, six or fewer runs—thanks, Stampton). One more inning and he would have made it. On second thought, of course he wouldn’t have. What are the odds he would have pitched a scoreless third had he taken the mound? Don’t answer that, JonathanF. We all know some things are impossible.
–Michael Harris II, who hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning, has been one of the best players in the league over the past month—after being the worst offensive player in the game for three months. He’s raised his OPS by over 100 points in that span, with an OPS of 1.078 since the ASB. All we need to do for next year is adjust the calendars on all his devices, so that in April he thinks it’s July.
–Profar had three hits, and his OPS is up to .776. It may be that the recent performances by him and Harris allow the Braves to focus their resources on the middle infield this offseason. Bo Bichette will be very expensive, but he is exactly what this team needs.
–I said in this space last week that it’s hard to stay focused on the team when October baseball is not a possibility. But doing all we can to keep the Mets from playing in October is a worthy goal. It would be delightful for the Mets to miss out on the playoffs because they had a losing record against the Braves. Also, I still want to catch the Marlins. It’s an even worthier goal to defeat Pure Evil.
Beyond that, I’ve got nothing. Elder goes tonight in pursuit of yet another EQS against Senga.
Wonderful and entertaining recap, thank you, tfloyd. I woke up in the middle of the night and started to listen to the game, fell asleep at 6-0, woke up a little later just to check the sore 9-6. Was I still dreaming?
How many players have turned their season around as drastically as MHII, going from worst to one of the best players within a season?
This development–that MH is not in early decline but actually just as good as he ever was–is the most encouraging thing in this meaningless second half. I mentioned a couple months ago that there was no pathway to contention in 2026 that I could see that didn’t involve Harris rebounding to form. Otherwise, it is just too difficult to fill 3 premium “up the middle” positions in one offseason without internal prospects. We can tolerate Nick Allen at short if we get production from CF and 2B.
Someone needs to convince Harris not to raise his hands to generate more power. He doesn’t need it anyway, but it’s counterproductive.
Someone needs to convince him to take a walk more than once a week. He hasn’t walked yet in the month of August. I so want him to reach his full potential but he’ll never be more than he is – will never so much as repeat his rookie results – unless he learns to control the strike zone better.
You are just taunting me now, tfloyd. I will discuss this more in my recap on Friday in order to provide “content” rather than “comments”. But I will note that there is one other game in MLB history in which a team scored 6 to lead 6-0, didn’t score again, and the other team scored 11 to win 11-6. That and some other observations on Friday. (cliff, by the way, will be recapping tonight. Expect his recap on Friday morning.)
I too abandoned the game when it was 6-0. I checked the score shortly after midnight and promptly fired up the computer to watch the Braves fourth inning twice: once with each set of announcers. I then watched the Mets postgame show. Of such delights are lousy seasons made.
Yep, those types of post-game shows are rather entertaining.
Last night, I had to run off to an event, but I was watching that long inning on my phone in my hotel room with people waiting for me downstairs. It was 6-5 w/ the bases loaded & Harris coming up. I did everything very slowly, turning out lights, putting on my shoes, etc., and I sauntered to the elevator bank holding my phone up to my face.
I got in the elevator & just before the GSHR pitch, the phone signal went out… of course.
But… all’s well that ends well.
Sadly, you were right about Carrasco.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/braves-dfa-carlos-carrasco.html
And JC’ed from the last thread:
Boy, it’s been a great year to be a Mets hater, if nothing else. I’m struck by the fact that we scored 11 runs on just 8 hits, one of only five times all season that we’ve scored more runs than we’ve had hits:
April 14: Atlanta 8, Toronto 4
May 29: Atlanta 9, Philadelphia 3
July 21: Atlanta 9, San Francisco 5
July 28: Atlanta 10, Kansas City 7
August 13: Atlanta 11, NYM 6
JonathanF – can you factcheck my work? Is this something that we’ve done more or less of in previous years? In general, I’d like to be able to outscore our hit total from time to time, as it seems like the kind of thing that would be more likely the more efficient an offense you have.
You are correct that those are 5 such games so far this year.
This ties the Braves record, tied with the following (full) seasons:
season
1999 5
2012 5
2019 5
2021 5
2023 5
Who’s going to make Carrasco’s next start? What even is our rotation at this point?
I count Strider, Wentz, Waldrep, Fedde, and Elder. That’s five. And Sale isn’t far off.
Fedde and Carrasco have amazingly been worse than Elder. Fedde might not be around much longer either after Sale gets stretched back out.
Bo Bichette is terrible defensively and will cost way too much. No thanks
I agree on both counts, but I would want him to play 2B and roll with Nick Allen at SS. Bichette isn’t a total liability defensively, but I can’t see him being playable at SS in 2 years. I think anybody who signs him is going to want him at 2B. He’s also a low walk rate guy, and I really don’t want another one of those in our order if we can help it. The biggest issue is who else is there on the middle infielder market? Are we going with Albies and Allen again in 2026?
I actually got to WATCH THE BRAVES ON TV! That doesn’t happen much here in Central alabackward, due to what I’m sure are greed-inspired “regions.” The Braves ownership needs to come up with something akin to what Ted Turner did with WTCG/WTBS. He knew the more folks who can watch your team, the more fans you create, and the more money you’ll pull in.
As for the game, as I watched Carrasco lob up BP for a couple of innings, I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew he was pitching himself off the roster. DFA’d after proving he’s washed up. This guy is so reflective of the 70s era Braves. They’d grab any washed up pitcher hoping for miracles that never came. I also get the sense that Ozzie is playing his way off the team. His offensive production is virtually nonexistent. Unlike Harris II, he hasn’t gotten any pointers on where to hold his hands, altering his exaggerated stance, or concentrating on making contact. Nacho may get a look at second, next Spring.
I did get several laughs , albeit unintentional, from what struck me as a Mets broadcasting team. They went from pumped-up bungholes to whiney widdle punks when that Braves offense actually looked potent. Anytime the Braves beat the Mets, I like it. Wouldn’t it be a gas to see the Braves play good ball the rest of the way?
Agree with you re. Ozzie. Unfortunately. He has no business in the hitting cleanup like last night. I really enjoy the Mets broadcast team. I find them entertaining and interesting to listen to and quite critical of the Mets in the right places.
Jackson Stephens signed a contract to pitch in Taiwan.
I’m not a big fan of letting a pitcher walk after one bad performance. However, the only difference between what Carrasco threw last night and batting practice is you see a lot higher percentage of strikes during Bp. Carlos has had a decent career but he should have hung up his cleats a few years ago.
Speaking of letting a pitcher walk. Letting Kimbrel go after a decent stint in the minors and an unimpressive scoreless inning of baseball looked really bad at the time. However, that inning was his only major league inning pitched so far this year. The decision doesn’t look so bad now
Win, win, win.
Always good to beat the Mets, even (especially?) in a crappy season. Would be a shame if they kept losing and missed the playoffs. If we’re really lucky, both NY teams will miss the playoffs. Go, Ohio teams!
recaped.